Halfdan T. Mahler,
born in Denmark in 1923, joined the World Health Organization (WHO)
in 1951. He worked for nearly a decade in India as Senior WHO Officer
for the National Tuberculosis Program. From 1962 to 1969, Halfdan
Mahler served as Chief of the Tuberculosis Unit at the WHO in Geneva,
Switzerland. He was then appointed Director of Project Systems
Analysis. In 1970, he was appointed Assistant Director-General of the
WHO. In 1973, he was also elected WHO Director-General and was
re-elected for two successive five-year terms in 1978 and 1983. It
was under his direction that the 32nd World Health Assembly launched
the Global Strategy for Health for All by theYear 2000.